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FROM A MEDALLION EXECUTED IN 1792 BY CERACCHI. 



Jonathan Bull and Mary Bull: 



BY 



J 
TAMES ]\IADISON 



AN iNEDlTED MANUSCRIPT. 



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PRINTED FOR PRESENTATION BV J. C. MGUIKE. 



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DEC 27 1887 1/ ' 



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WASHINGTON, D. C, 






Copyright, 1887, by F. B. McGuiKir. 



■Written but not published at the period of the Missouri question, 1821. 



JONATHAN BULL AND MAKY BULL. 



Joiiatlian Bull and Mary Bull, who were descend- 
ants of old John Bull, the head of the family, had 
inherited contiguous estates in large tracts of land. 
As they grew up and became well acquainted, a 
partiality was mutually felt, and advances on several 
occasions made towards a matrimonial connection. 
This was particularly recommended by the advan- 
tage of putting their two estates under a common 
superintendence. Old Bull, however, as guardian 
of both, and having long been allowed certain val- 
uable j^ri^dleges within the estates, with which he 
was not long content, had always found the means 
of breaking off the match, which he regarded as a 
fatal obstacle to his secret design of getting the 
Avhole property into his own hands. 

At a moment favorable, as he thought, for the 
attempt, he brought suit against both, l)ut Avitli a 
view of carrying it on in a way that would make the 
j^rocess bear on the parties in such different modes, 
times, and degrees, as might ci-eate a jealousy and 
discord between them. Jonathan and Mary had too 
much sagacity to be duped. They understood well 
old BulFs character and situation. They knew that 
he was deeply versed in all the suV)tleties of the law; 
that he was of a stubborn and persevering temper, 



and that lie bad, moreover, a very long purse. They 
were sensible, therefore, that the more he endeavored 
to divide their interests and their defence of the suit, 
the more they ought to make a common cause and 
proceed in a concert of measures. As this could best 
be done by giving effect to the feelings long enter- 
tained for each other, an intermarriage was deter- 
mined on and solemnized, with a deed of settlement, 
as usual in such opulent matches, duly executed ; and 
no event certainly of the sort was ever celebrated by 
a greater fervor or variety of rejoicings among the 
respective tenants of the parties. They had a great 
horror of falling into the hands of old Bull, and re- 
garded the mai'riage of their proprietors, under whom 
they held their freeholds, as the surest mode of ward- 
ing off the danger. They were not disappointed. 
United purses and good advocates compelled old 
Bull, after a hard struggle, to withdraw the suit, 
and relinquish forevei', not only the new pretensions 
he had set up, but the old privileges he had been 
allowed. 

The marriage of Jonathan and Maiy was not a 
barren one. On the contrary, every year or two 
added a new member to the family, and on such oc- 
casions the pi'actice was to set off a portion of land 
sufficient for a good farm, to be put undei' the au- 
thoi'itv of the child on its attaining the at^e of nian- 
hood. And these lands were settled very rapidly 
l)y tenants going, as the case might be, from the 
estates, sometimes of Jonathan, sometimes of Mary, 
and sometimes partly from one and partly from the 
other. 



5 



It happened that at the ex])iration of the nonage 
of" tlie tenth oi' eleventh fruit of the niamage some 
(littifulties were started concerning the rules and con- 
ditions of declaring tlie young party of age, and of 
giving him, as a member of the family, tlie manage- 
ment of his patrimony. Jonathan became ])()ssessed 
with a notion that an arranyvment ouii;ht to he ma(h' 
that Avould prevent the new farm from being settled 
and cultivated, as in all the latter instances, indis- 
criminately by persons removing from his and Mary's 
estate, and confine this privilege to those going from 
his own ; and in the perverse humor which had seized 
him, he listened moreover to suggestions that Mary 
had some undue advantage from the selections of the 
head stewards, which happened to have been made 
much oftener out of hei' tenants than his. 

Now the prejudice suddenly taken up by Jona- 
than against the ecpial I'ight of Mary's tenants to 
remove with their property to new fai'ms, was con- 
nected with a peculiarity in Mary's person not as yet 
noticed. Strange as it may appear, the circumstance 
is not the less true, that Mary, when a child, had 
unfortunately received from a certain African dye 
a stain on her left arm, which had made it perfectly 
black, and ^^ ithal somewhat weaker than the other 
arm. Tlie misfortune arose from a ship from Africa, 
loaded with the article, which had been permitted 
to enter a river running through her estate, and 
dispose of a part of the noxious cargo. The fact 
was well known to Jonathan at the time of their 
marriage, and if felt as mi objection, it was, in a 
manner, reduced to nothing, l)y the comely form an<l 



6 

pleasing features of Mary in every other respect, by 
her good sense and amiable manners, and in part 
perhaps by the large and valua]>le estates she brought 
with her. 

In the unlneky fit, however, M'hich was upon him, 
he looked at the ])lack arm, and forgot all the rest. 
To such a pitch of feeling was he w^rought up, that 
he broke out inlo the grossest taunts on Mary for 
her misfortune, not omitting at the same time to 
remind her of his long forbearance to exert his 
superior voice in the appointment of the head 
stewai'd. He had now, he said, got his eyes fully 
opened ; he saw every thing in a new light, and was 
resolved to act accoi'dingly. As to the head stew- 
ard, he would let her see that the appointment was 
virtually in his power, and she might take her leave 
of all chance of ever having another of her tenants 
advanced to that station ; and as to the black arm, 
she should, if the color could not be taken out, 
either tear off the skin from the tlesh, or cut oif the 
limb ; for it w^as his fixed determination that one 
oi' other should be done, or he would sue out a 
divorce, and there should be an end of all connec- 
tion between them and their estates. I have, he said, 
examined well the marriage settlement, and flaws 
have been pointed out to me, that never occurred 
before, by which I shall be able to set the whole 
aside. White as I am all over, I can no longer con- 
sort with one marked with such a deformity as the 
blot on your person. 

Mary was so stunned with the language she heard, 
that it was some time before she could speak at all ; 



and as tlie surprise abated, she was almost clicked 
with the anger ;iii(l indignation swelling in lici 
bosom, (xenerons nnd j)lac'able as hei- temper was, 
she had a ])rond sensibility to what she thought an 
unjust and (h'grading treatment, which did not permit 
her to suppress the violence of her first emotions. 
Hei" hinguage accordingly foi* a moment was such as 
these emotions prom])ted. But her good sense, and 
her regard for Jonathan, whose (pialities as a good 
husband she had long ex])ei'ienced, soon gained an 
ascendency, and changed her tone to that of sohci- 
reasoning and affectionate expostulation. 

"Well, my dear husband, you see what a ])assi(>n 
you have put me into. But it is now ovei', and I 
will endeavor to express my thoughts with the calm- 
ness and good feelings which become the relation of 
wife and husband. 

"As to the case of providing for our child just 
coming of age, I shall say but little. We both have 
such a tender regard for him, and such a desire to 
see him on a level with his brethren as to the chance 
of nniking his fortune in the world, that I am sure 
the diiliculties which have occurred will in some way 
or other be got over. 

" But I caimot pass so lightly over the reproaches 
you east on the color of my left arm, and on the more 
frecpient appointment of my tenants than of youi's 
to the head stewardship of our joint estates. 

" Now, as to the first point, you seem to have for- 
gotten, my worthy partner, that this infii-mity was 
fully known to you before oui' marriage, aii<l is 
proved to be so by the deed of settlement itself. At 



8 

that time you made it no objection whatever to onr 
union; and, indeed, how could you urge such an ol)- 
jection, when you were conscious that you yourself 
were not entirely free from a like stain on your own 
person ? The fatal Africau dye, as you well know, 
had found its way into your abode as well as mine ; 
and at the time of our marriage, you had spots and 
specks scattered over your body as black as the skin 
on my arm. And although you have, by certain 
abrasions and other api)lications, taken them in some 
measure out, there are visiV)le remains which ought 
to soften at least your language when reflecting on 
my situation. You ought surely, when you have so 
slowly and imperceptil)ly relieved yourself from the 
mortifying stain, although the task was comparatively 
so easy, to have some forbearance and sympathy with 
me, who have a task so much more difficult to per- 
form. Instead of that, you al)use me as if I had 
brought the misfortune on myself, and could re- 
move it at will ; or, as if you had pointed out a 
ready way to do it, and I had slighted your advice. 
Yet, so far is this from being the case, that you 
know as well as I do, that I am not to be blamed for 
the origin of the sad mishap ; that I am as anxious 
as you can be to get rid of it ; that you are as un- 
able as I am to find out a safe and feasi])le plan for 
the purpose ; and, moreover, that I have done every 
thing I could, in the meantime, to mitigate an evil 
that cannot as yet be removed. When you talk of 
tearing off the skin, or cutting off the unfortunate 
limb, must I remind you, of what you cannot be 
ignorant, that the most skilful surgeons have given 



9 

their opinions that if so cruel an operation were to 
be tried, it could hardly fail to be followed by a 
mortifieatioii, oi' a l)le(Mlino; to death '. Let nic ask, 
too, whether, should neither of the fatal effects 
ensue, you would like lue better in my nangled or 
mutilated condition than nou do now? And when 
you threaten a divorce and an annulment of the 
marriage settlement, may I not ask wdiether youi- 
estate would not suffer as nuich as mine })y dissolv- 
ing the pai'tnei'ship between them ? I am fai' from 
denying that 1 feel the advantage of having the 
pledge of your arm, your stronger arm if you 
please, for the protection of me and mine ; and that 
my interests in general have been, and must con- 
tinue to l)e, the better for your aid and counsel in 
the management of them. But on the other hand, 
you must be equally sensiV)le that the aid of my 
purse will have its value, in case old Bull, or any 
other such litigious fellow, should put us to the ex- 
pense of another tedious lawsuit. And now, that we 
are on the subject of loss and gain, you will not be of- 
fended if I take notice of a report that you sometimes 
insinuate that mv estate, accordinfr to the rates of 
assessment, does not })ay its due share into the com- 
mon purse, r tliink, my dear Jonathan, that if you 
ever entertained this opinion, you must have been 
led into it b}- a very wrong view of the subject. 
As to the direct income from rents, there can be no 
deficiency on my part there; the lule of apportion- 
ment being clear, and founded on a calculation by 
numbers. And as to what is raised from the articles 
bought and used bv m\ tenants, it is ditticult to 



10 

« 

conceive that my tenants buy or use less than yours, 
considering that they carry a greater amount of 
crops to market, the whole of which, it is well 
known, tliey lav out in articles from the use of 
which the bailifP re^-ularly collects the sum due. It 
would seem, then, that my tenants selling more, buy 
more ; buying more, use more ; and using more, 
pay more. Meaning, however, not to put you in the 
wrong, but myself in the right, I do not push the 
argument to that length ; because I readily agree 
that in paying for articles bought and used, you 
have, beyond the fruits of tlie soil, on which I de- 
pend, ways and means which I have not. You 
draw chiefly the interest we jointly pay for the 
funds we were obliged to borrow for the fees and 
costs the suit of old Bull ])ut us to. Your tenants 
also turn their hands so ingeniously to a variety of 
handicraft and other mechanical productions, that 
they make not a little money from that source. Be- 
sides all this, you gain much by the iish you catch 
and cai'ry to market ; by the use of your teams and 
boats, ill transporting and trading on the crops of 
my tenants ; and, indeed, in doing that sort of busi- 
ness for strano'ers also. This is a fair statement on 
your side of the account, with the drawback, how- 
ever, that as your tenants are supplied with a greater 
proportion of articles, made by themselves, than is 
the case with mine, the use of which articles does 
not contribute to the common purse, they avoid, in 
the same proportion, the payments collected from my 
tenants. If I were to look still further into this mat- 
ter, and refer you to every advantage you draw from 



11 

the imloii of onr persons and property, T might re- 
mark that the profits you make from your teams and 
lioats, and wliich enable you to ])ay your quota, aiv 
in great part drawn from the preference they Inive 
in conveying and disposing of tlie products of ni\- 
soil — a business that misfht fall into other hands in 
the event of our separation. I mention tliis, as 1 
have already said, not })y way of complaint, for I am 
well satisfied that your gain is not altogether my loss 
in this, more than in many other instances ; and tliat 
what })roiits you immediately, may profit me also in 
the long iiin. But I will not dwell on these calcu- 
lations and comparisons of interest, which you ought 
to weigh as well as myself, as reasons against the 
measure to which you threaten a resort. For when 
T consult my own lieart, and call to mind all the en- 
dearing- ])roofs you have i>:iven of vours being" in 
sympathy with it, I must needs hope that there are 
other ties than mere interest to prevent us fi'om ever 
suffering a trafisient resentment on either side, with 
or without cause, to Ijring on both all the conse- 
quences of a divorce — consequences, too. which would 
be a sad inheritance, indeed, for oui* numerous and 
beloved offspring. 

" As to the other point, relative to the head steAv- 
ards, I must own, my worthy husband, that I am 
altogether at a loss for any cause of dissatisfaction 
on your part, or Idame on mine. It is true, as you 
say, that they have been often er taken from among 
my tenants than yours; })ut, undei' other circum- 
stances, the reverse might as well have hajipened. 
If the individuals appointed had made their way to 



12 

the important trust l:)y corrupt or fallacious means; 
if tliey liad been preferred merely because they 
dwelt on my estate, or had succeeded by any interpo- 
sition of mine contrary to your inclination ; or, finally, 
if they had administered the trust unfaithfully, sac- 
rificing your interests to mine, or the interests of 
])oth to selfish oi' to unworthy ])urposes ; in either of 
these cases you would have ground foi' your com- 
])laints. But I know, Jonathan, that you are too just 
and too candid not to admit that no such ground 
exists. The head stewards in question could not 
have been appointed without your own participation 
as well as mine. They were recommended to our 
joint choice by the reputed fairness of their charac- 
ters ; by their tried fidelity and competency in pi'e- 
vious trusts; and l)y theii' exemption from all 
chai'ges of impure and grasping designs. And so 
far were they from being partial to my interest 
at the expense of yours, that they were rather con- 
sidered by my tenants as leaning to a management 
more favorable to yours than to mine, I need not 
say that I allude to the ])Ounties, direct or indirect, 
to your teams and boats, to the hands employed in 
your fisheries, and to the looms and othei' machine- 
ries, which, without such encouragements, would not 
be able to meet the thi'eatened rivalships of inter- 
fei'ing neighbors. I say, only, that these ideas were 
in the heads of some of my tenants. For myself, I 
should not have mentioned them, but as a defence 
against what I must regard as so unfounded a 
charge, that it ouglit not to be permitted to make a 
lasting impression. 



13 

" Hut, laying aside all these considerations, I repeat, 
my dear Jonathan, that the a])])ointnient of the h<'nd 
steward lies as much, if n(»t moiv, with you than w itli 
me. Let the choice fall where it may, you will find 
me faithfully abiding by it, whether it be thought 
the best possible one or not; and sincerely wishing 
that he may equally improve better opportunities of 
serving us both than was the lot of any of those ^vho 
have gone before him,'"' 

Jonathan, who had a good heart as well as a sound 
head and steady temper, was touched with this ten- 
der and considerate language of Mary, and the l)ick- 
ering which had sprung up ended, as the quarrels of 
lovers ahrai/s, and of married folks sometimes do, in 
an increased affection and confidence between the 
parties. 



39 









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